A few thoughts about the way i see business, work, knowledge, and its application to work change the way things are done, and the impact these have on the business scenario around us. You will also find a few reflections about the world around us, and beyond ...

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Something happened this morning ... nothing unusual, but it got me thinking on quite unusual lines. Unusual lines for me, would probably be usual lines for quite a few. If you drive in this part of the world, you are quite used to people driving all over the road, basically treating the entire road as one large lane (actually, these are few, but not unusual). This becomes more so when it rains (and its been raining heavily, which is a relief given the absence of the rains for the last few months) because under the water, nobody knows where the old potholes are, and where the newly created ones would be. Which means that driving can be a guessing game. Now, add to this someone cutting you off on the road, and it can be quite irritating. Yes, i know ... you know the feeling, dont you?

Well, this morning someone did that. And it affected me. But then, i got thinking ... what is impacting me. What is the nature of his action and my reaction. Or, for that matter, my action, and someone's reaction? And i found myself reacting in a way which is quite unusual for me. I was no longer irritated. I was thinking (yes, somewhat unusual for me, but even so ...). So, what was i thinking? Simple ... Was what he did inherently irritating by nature? Is anything anyone does carrying a particular human emotion attached to it? I believe it carries the vibrations of the person who is doing it, but apart from that, things we do are emotion-neutral. Emotions are caused by the way we see those things, and are the cause for how we react.

Take this example. Someone is driving and cuts someone off. No inherent emotions associated with this. Where emotions do come in is the way i reacted to what he did. I could have just shrugged it off, or i could have been irritated, or angry. Which means, that by attaching our emotions to the things someone else does, we are creating we are bringing feelings to the action-reaction equation. The colour of the action (irritating colour superimposed on what he did) is something which i brought, not he. Which means that the light of things being nice, nasty, funny, sweet, or anything else, is brought to the scenario by the perception of the receiver. Which has implications for us humans. By not associating negative colours with things which we see, we can actually change the impact those things have on us. In other words, we can choose the way we react to something, and this choice is something which decides the impact that action has on us, which we express in the form of reaction.

4 comments:

Anonymous
said...

very well said! n how amazingly true. to realize this by reading books s one thing. but to realize this in one's daily life s amazing! u hv realized it... now it will b much easier for you to react at your own will. i believe our reactions are not always controlled by ourselves - they depend on our feelings at that moment which further depends on some external factors. Like they say for a lover, everything is beautiful! A person in love will find a rose bautiful...d same rose may prick a widow whose husband is no more... so a rose is a rose...we see it through different eyes...eyes of our emotions, and they inturn depend on many things...there is nothing like controlling our emotions! And you are on the right track...keep going :-)

Thanks. :-) I think you said it when you said that our reactions are dependant on our feelings at that moment ... but then, our feelings at that moment are also a reaction to what someone else has done. So, arent we, in a way, letting others define our life for us?

yes rite. but to lift oneself up a level where we dont let ourselves be affected by someone else's action requires an effort. its like realizing smoking is not good for one's health but still not being able to quit it. but this is definitely worth a try again n again with a determination never to give up trying. N one day am sure we will reach a stage where others actions whatever they may be will only give us happiness. In other words, we will "choose" to be happy and content, no matter what... you know one way you can reach this is by attaching yourself to God, with utmost belief. He will never let us down. And one more thing I beieve we can do is ensure our actions dont hurt others...because they may still not have reached that stage where our actions will not have any adverse effect on them :-)

Paramahansa Yogananda tells us that God is ever-new Bliss. Scriptures talk of God as Sat-Chit-Anand ... hence, God is the cause of all Hapiness, indeed Bliss. So you are right. Anyone hitching their star to God shall have ever-lasting Happiness.

About Me

Spent around 10 years in the Training industry, doing a lot of Training, and quite a bit of KM (without knowing it at the time, though ...)! Now, I am a full-time Knowledge Management professional. I am interested in learning about the world around me. What makes it tick ... And, of course, am interested in Food! I like to believe I am a seeker. Though I know not what I seek ... Maybe thats the way it is meant to be. Seeking The Truth, and I know God is by me.